Seven months after the Chicago Fire kicked off their season in Columbus, the Fire are set to meet the Crew once again, this time at Soldier Field. In the first game of the Gregg Berhalter era in Chicago, the team showed both their promise, getting off to a two goal lead as new Designated Player Jonathan Bamba connected with Chicago homegrown Brian Gutiérrez for two goals, and their peril, conceding four times en route to a 4-2 defeat.

In the time since, the Fire have played 32 competitive matches and are coming off a convincing win against a top (if heavily rotated) opponent.

Columbus, meanwhile, have been in somewhat of a tailspin, as injuries combined with a shakier defense have given the Crew just one win since their group-stage exit from the Leagues Cup in August. The turn in form has taken some of the sheen off of Wilfred Nancy, Columbus’s head coach.

This will be the 79th MLS regular-season meetup between the two midwestern rivals, between two head coaches with 80 wins each, tying them for 21st most in league history.

A win for the Fire would even up the all-time regular season series with 28 wins each along with 23 draws, and would end an eight game winless skid against the Crew. More importantly – it would bolster the Fire’s playoff chances, keeping them on the right side of the playoff line and taking them within two points of the team that Berhalter used to coach.

Series History

Last match: February 22, 2025 Columbus Crew 4-2 Chicago Fire FC, Lower.com Field, Columbus, Oh.Last MLS match: May 18, 2024: Chicago Fire 1-3 Columbus Crew at Soldier Field, Chicago, Ill.

What to Expect

Columbus Crew

Since Wilfred Nancy arrived in Columbus for the 2023 season, the team has been a winner: MSL Cup in that inaugural season, Leagues Cup the year after. They made it to the CONCACAF Champions Cup final.

This year, however, has been a different story. The team’s CONCACAF aspirations ended early, with a Round of 16 loss to Los Angeles FC. Five months later, they failed to make it out of the group stage of the Leagues Cup despite finishing with two wins and a loss on goal kicks.

It’s been their league form, however, that has been the issue. Since June, Columbus haven’t been able to win two games in a row, and have been under 0.500, with three victories, four draws and four losses. In their most recent win, a 5-4 victory in Atlanta, the team was up by five goals at half before almost allowing Atlanta to equalize.

Injuries have certainly played an outsized factor. Defender Rudy Camacho has been injured all season, as has Mohamed Farsi, who has been excellent for the Crew when available, has been out since July. Midfielder Sean Zawadzki has been out for a month.

It doesn’t get better in the attack. Against the Fire, it’s likely that Diego Rossi, who leads the team with 16 goals, will be out, as will new DP striker Wessam Abou Ali, whose injury last week will keep him out for the rest of the regular season.

Still, those aren’t the only problems. After acquiring Dániel Gazdag, who has scored at least 14 goals in every full season he’s had in MLS from Philadelphia in April, the Hungarian forward has scored just three times in 1,933 minutes with the Crew. Compare that to the two goals he scored in under 498 minutes before leaving Philadelphia, and the problem becomes obvious.

As the team’s form has fallen, reports of a fractured locker room have emerged, adding to Nancy’s woes.

Chicago Fire

This game kicks off a week that will, in all likelihood, decide the Fire’s season. With just one game after next Saturday, whether the Fire make the postseason or suffer another year of disappointment will likely be decided in the roughly 170 hours between the time this game kicks off and the time the final whistle blows in Toronto.

Is that something on the Fire’s mind? Not according to Berhalter, who said “It's really just about the game that's in front of us. We are not getting ahead of ourselves. We're focusing on Columbus. That's the first opponent we have. When we are done with that game, we will focus on Miami and then Toronto. But it is what it is. The guys are focused. The guys have been training well and now it's about putting the final touches in preparation for Columbus.”

That isn’t just the coach’s message – moments before, a similar statement was made by defender Joel Waterman to media, who said “We're solely focused on what we can do against Columbus, how we can hurt them and get a win at home. We built up some good chemistry and connections from the last game, I think, and hoping we can do the same on Saturday.”

The Fire have played 2,610 minutes of competitive soccer since 4-2 defeat to Columbus in their season opener. Since then, they’ve had notable games where the team ended on both sides of victory, but the Fire have shown overall progress.

Are they looking to demonstrate that against Columbus, their first opponent in the season? Not really – at least according to Gregg Berhalter “Where we are at this stage of the season is just about winning. It's about progressing. It's about getting into the playoffs. I'm not sure the guys minds are on the first game, and let's show how much we have improved. It's really about, okay, we are here. We're this close. Let’s go. The guys are confident, and that's a good thing to have at this time.”

Projected Starting XI

Match Information and How to Watch

Date and Time: Saturday, September 27, 2025, 7:30 PM CTForecast: Clear with temperatures around 70ºF at kickoffLocation: Soldier Field, Chicago, Ill.TV: Apple TV – MLS Season PassRadio: wlsam.com (English), Que Buena Fire via the Uforia App (Spanish).